The Advocate: “Batun Rudge should spend as much money on gun violence as it does foosball”

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As Baton Rouge law enforcement leaders pledged a united front against unprecedented violent crime, District Attorney Hillar Moore III challenged the community to address a longstanding discrepancy: the amount of money invested in college sports compared to spending on programs aimed at breaking the devastating cycles of poverty and violence.

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"We invest personal, business and state dollars in sports programs and athletes to ensure they are well-equipped and elite, given whatever they need to reach their potential," Moore said. "We want a winning team. We have the best, but the best costs money."

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East Baton Rouge Parish ended 2021 with a record-breaking murder rate amid surging violence nationwide: 149 people killed, an 84 percent increase from 2019. Discussions around college athletics spending also heated up last year after LSU football paid Ed Orgeron $17 million to go away, then signed a 10-year contract worth $100 million with Brian Kelly, making him the highest paid coach at a public university in the country.

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College athletes are around the same age as the young people most at risk for engaging in violence, and they often grow up under the same challenging circumstances, Moore said — and in a state that consistently ranks among the worst for education, poverty, race relations and more. He called for a "huge shift in thought, manpower and funding," saying Baton Rouge would benefit greatly from an investment in anti-violence work to rival its investment in college athletics.

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